Marco Marra

Marra took over as Director of Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre (GSC) when Dr. Smith died of cancer in 2000. As of 2021, the GSC has more than 280 scientists, trainees and staff and a grant funding level averaging more than 25 million dollars each year. Marra has mentored many scientists and graduate students who are now providing the expertise and insight needed to fulfill the promise of genomics through technological innovation, enhanced informatics and creative clinical applications.

Along with GSC co-director, Dr. Steven J.M. Jones, Marra was instrumental in creating the first map the human genome, an international initiative that allowed the data to remain in the public domain. One of the largest collaborative scientific projects in history, the Human Genome Project begun in 1990 and completed in 2003. The massive and unprecedented scale of genomic data provided by the Human Genome Project has since revolutionized our understanding of disease biology ranging from cancer to cognitive impairment and continues to unfold new possibilities for integrating laboratory research and clinical practice to improve cancer control.

The paper published in the 15 February 2001 issue of Nature, titled "A physical map of the human genome",[3] describes the construction and use of the human genome map to fuel human genome sequencing. Marra made fundamental contributions to that effort by devising and then implementing clonal fingerprinting[4] techniques that led to the construction and use of the map, which served as the centralized coordinating resource for the sequencing effort.

Led by Marra, the GSC was first in the world to sequence the SARS virus[5] in 2003. Using this information they were the first to identify SARS as a coronavirus. This discovery, along with knowledge of the SARS genome, had significant implications for many infectious diseases and vaccine development. Sequencing techniques used for SARs were also applied to many fields of research and discovery, including cancer.

In 2020, the GSC joined the Canadian COVID Genomics Network (CanCOGeN), a Genome Canada initiative to generate accessible and usable genomics data to inform COVID-19 public health decisions. The GSC was one of the first three facilities involved in sequencing 10,000 Canadians that tested positive for the virus (HostSeq) for this Government of Canada funded project. Research co-led by Marra also identified an alternative procedure for extracting nucleic acids for COVID-19 testing.[6]

As part of a GSC initiative, Marra played a pivotal role in the first proof-of-concept[7] for the effective use of whole genome analyses in personalized cancer medicine, leading to the development of BC Cancer’s Personalized OncoGenomics (POG) program. POG, co-lead by Dr. Janessa Laskin, represents one of the first applications of whole genome sequencing in a clinical setting, using information derived from thousands of individual cancer genomes and transcriptomes to identify promising therapeutic targets in individual patients.

In 2019, Marra and the POG team became a key part of the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network. Led by the Terry Fox Research Institute and the Terry Fox Foundation, with support from dozens of research and funding partners across Canada, this represents the country’s largest ever clinical data-sharing initiative. The Marathon of Hope aims to accelerate the adoption of precision medicine for cancer patients throughout Canada.  

Marra continues to extend the reach of genomics toward managing and eradicating disease. His research has uncovered new cancer mutations, candidate biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and has been instrumental in demonstrating the functional interplay between the cancer genome and epigenome.